Eastern Tajikistan struck by powerful earthquake

A powerful earthquake has struck remote parts of eastern Tajikistan, sending shockwaves into neighbouring countries.

The magnitude 7.2 quake's epicentre was 345km (215 miles) east of Dushanbe, the US Geological Survey said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Officials say information is likely to emerge slowly from mountainous Gorno-Badakhshan, where the quake occurred.

Schools in the capital and other towns closed and cracks appeared in buildings in the provincial capital, Khorog.

The quake was also felt in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, where some office workers ran into the streets as buildings shook.

A BBC correspondent in Dushanbe says the area around the epicentre - near Sarez Lake, about 100km to the west of the village of Murghab - is remote and very hard to reach.

Mobile networks in the region were down after the quake.